First Wal-mart In State To Open Doors Thursday

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation's largest retailer, Thursday will open its Manchester store, the first of three planned for Connecticut.

The 116,000-square-foot Wal-Mart at 420 Buckland Hills Drive will employ slightly more than 200 people.

In addition to clothing, housewares, toys, and health and beauty aids, the new store will have a garden center, a snack bar, a pharmacy, a one-hour photo lab and a portrait studio.

The new store will open Thursday on an abbreviated schedule, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Friday, New Year's Day, it will begin its Monday-through-Saturday hours of 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. It will open Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

On Tuesday the new store will host a ribbon-cutting and grand opening ceremony at 8 a.m.

Wal-Mart plans to open two more stores, in Putnam and Willimantic, next summer. The company also has announced its search for a store site in the Branford-New Haven area.

The Manchester store is one of 15 that Wal-Mart says it will open nationwide during the first week of January, adding to its total of 1,838 Wal-Marts .

Wal-Mart has eight stores in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and plans at least seven more in those states, plus Rhode Island